Pretty much the only thing available is puck movers. Regehr has an NTC, making the closest thing to a shut down w/o an NTC Lydman

Guys with NTC's move all the time. Especially when they play for garbage teams like Buffalo, or if they aren't getting the ice time they want/deserve. I'm not saying it wouldn't make finding one a little harder, and I definitely see your point, but it's not impossible to find one.

Also, Regehr was just an example. Doesn't have to be him. Though given that it's a contract year for him, acquiring him is definitely in the realm of possibility.

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Guys with NTC's move all the time. Especially when they play for garbage teams like Buffalo, or if they aren't getting the ice time they want/deserve. I'm not saying it wouldn't make finding one a little harder, and I definitely see your point, but it's not impossible to find one.

Also, Regehr was just an example. Doesn't have to be him. Though given that it's a contract year for him, acquiring him is definitely in the realm of possibility.

Very true. Wasn't Bouwmeester supposed to be on the trade block or something? He has multiple years left and an NTC I believe.

I agree that we don't need another puck-moving defenseman. The media people are just stuck in the "Replace Lidstrom" mind set.

Kronwall, Quincey, Smith, and White can all move the puck. Ericsson can, too, but he usually moves it right into the opposing team's sticks. What we severely lack is a defensive specialist as good as Stuart was.

I mean, hey, if you can sign a top offensive D-man, then great, it will help, but the real problem here is our defense is a defensive liability.

That's why people are so impressed with Huskins. He doesn't do anything other than make sure things don't get out of control. If you can bottle that up with some higher level playing talent, that's the guy the team needs for starters.

EDIT: And as for the NTC, well, it's up the player. A No-Trade Clause just protects the player from being moved without his approval. It just complicates matters because the player could want to stay or cause trouble and demand certain ideal circumstances that severely limit the teams he could go to.

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Never know. Right now, the Oilers are looking at having 6 forwards & 5 d-men as either UF or RFAs at the end of the season plus Nugent-Hopkins is an RFA the year after & due a raise. Sure they're projected to have a little over $20m in cap space next year but I don't see them spending it given they're $16m under this year's cap.

Well do we go after a top Defenseman or make a run this offseason at one of the big forwards, be it Perry, Getzlaf, Lupul, Roy, Horton or perhaps a sneaky quiet solid guy like Weiss. Plus you've got Ouellet, Almqvist and Marchenko that'll be up with the big club within a year or two, do we really need to blow a ton of money on a FA

Huskins has been steady as a surgeons hands so far. Perhaps he didnt fit in with the system in other teams that he has played on but thus far, he has been better than what White, Q and Kindl. There are lots of players who look downright average in the AHL or for another NHL team but flourish in the right system. look at Howards numbers in GR...Patrick Sharp? Brooks Laich?

The downside is that he is slow, so pair him with Smith who is speedy an offensively minded. He has earned a spot i think

Huskins has been steady as a surgeons hands so far. Perhaps he didnt fit in with the system in other teams that he has played on but thus far, he has been better than what White, Q and Kindl. There are lots of players who look downright average in the AHL or for another NHL team but flourish in the right system. look at Howards numbers in GR...Patrick Sharp? Brooks Laich?

The downside is that he is slow, so pair him with Smith who is speedy an offensively minded. He has earned a spot i think

Huskins has been steady as a surgeons hands so far. Perhaps he didnt fit in with the system in other teams that he has played on but thus far, he has been better than what White, Q and Kindl. There are lots of players who look downright average in the AHL or for another NHL team but flourish in the right system. look at Howards numbers in GR...Patrick Sharp? Brooks Laich?

The downside is that he is slow, so pair him with Smith who is speedy an offensively minded. He has earned a spot i think

I agree. I've not once yelled at my TV for a play Huskins has made I don't think, at the same time it's been awhile since I hated Quincey. He hasn't been completely terrible lately either

Huskins has been solid so far, no doubt. Which is what most of the scouting reports we saw at the time of the signings said he would be. Time may tell a different story, of course, but not one complaint yet about him.

I'd like to see if our current D can actually get their stuff together before saying we need to make a move. It would be nice to add a #2 D man to this roster, but it would have to be at the right cost. Might be best to see who is available at the deadline, or who is available as a free agent (or possibly an offseason trade).